Fetal Development Week by Week – Week 16

Your baby is now about 4 ½ inches long and weighs about 51/2 ounces. Hard to believe when you consider that most women have gained somewhere between 5 and 10 pounds! Just remember, your weight gain includes a lot more than just the weight of the baby, including the placenta, amniotic fluid and a larger volume of blood.

Your baby now gets the hiccups, but since they have fluid instead of air in the trachea they don’t make any sound. They also like to play, by pulling and tugging and squeezing on the umbilical cord.

The baby’s legs are beginning to grow longer than the arms now and the movement of all of the baby’s limbs is becoming more coordinated. The eyes have reached their final destination on the head and are no longer on the sides of the face. The baby is urinating about every 40-45 minutes and Meconium – the first stool the baby produces is beginning to collect in the bowels.

Usually between 16 and 20 weeks you’ll begin to feel the baby moving about. At first the movement may seem like butterflies in your stomach or gas bubbles. Moms who have been pregnant before may recognize this movement sooner than first time Moms.